Multicultural and multilingual mediation: Second or/and foreign language acquisition on the example of the German language

The project "Multicultural and multilingual mediation: Second or/and foreign language acquisition and use on the example of German" is intending, on the one hand, to complete the educational profile of students in the field of foreign language (mediation) and, on the other hand, to demonstrate the sociopolitical relevance of language mediation in a globalized world of life and work. According to the European Framework of Reference, language mediation is: "the generic term for various forms of oral and written transfer of texts into another language [or into another linguistic variety, or into another level of linguistic competence]. What is important in all forms is that the language mediator does not express his own intentions in the process, but is an intermediary between interlocutors who cannot understand each other directly." (Council of Europe 2001:89). In the new companion volume of the CEFR, mediation is "a reducer of distance". Mediation can be defined as any procedure, arrangement or action designed in a given social context to reduce the distance between two (or more) poles of otherness between which there is tension (North Coste/Cavalli 2015:27).

The present project is intended as an extension of the topic dealt with by the same team in the VMprogram "Cross-linguistic and Intercultural Mediation - German as a Lingua Franca", which will be carried out in May-June 2022 and takes up the concept of mediation in a communicative-pragmatically oriented perspective in the continuation of the content, integrating psycho- and sociolinguistic, as well as language-didactic approaches.

Main topics addressed

• On the concept of "intercultural mediation”
• German as a medium of communication (L1, L2, Lingua Franca)
• German in the context of speech acts and interculturality
• German in a variation-linguistic perspective/heterogeneous language use
• German in the proximity-distance model
• German as (un)understandable language (easy and simple language)
• Sample analysis of texts & tasks for language mediation from "German as a Foreign Language textbooks/example analysis of language certification tasks"
• Mediation for specific target groups
  • Communication situation 1 (everyday life: doctor, everyday life)
  • Communication situation 2 (study, profession, research etc)
• Applications in case-studies in communication situations and assignment of projects for the attendance phase

Learning outcomes

The expected learning outcomes of virtual part is the transfer of the necessary prior knowledge and the theoretical basics regarding language mediation in German. This ensures that all participants have the same knowledge base. The 10th session is used to give project tasks and creates the transition between the two phases (virtual and presence phase). The partner universities travel to Athens where the face-toface meeting takes place. Reflection after the face-to-face meeting and supervision and evaluation of the final projects.

General expected learning outcomes:

• Deepening of intercultural knowledge, acquisition of the practice of concrete intercultural interaction
• European cooperation in international problems (migration, inclusion, etc.)
• Professionalization of students, breaking down of communicative barriers, enrichment of students through practical interaction
• Thematic enrichment through the lectures of the specialists